Their Sister
by yankeegirl14
Summary: If Daryl and Merle had a little sister, Nora, with them when the ZA was happening. Goes through the story as she tells it how it is. Starts off at the camp. Rated T because i'm cautious. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the Walking Dead except for my own character. Kinda wish I owned Daryl though. I am going to apologize for any minor spelling problems, I don't have a beta and it's my first story soo let's just see how this goes... Please enjoy:) Critisism is welcomed as long as I won't cry over it haha**

The camp was quiet when I woke up in the morning, and only the birds and a tent unzipping or zipping could be heard. I turned my head to the side and saw that my older brother Daryl was still sleeping, his brow was creased in that worry expression that he always has. It dawned on me than that I had no idea where Merle was. Merle was my other brother, my oldest one. He was rough around the edges, or pretty much in general but he had his moments where his dark blue eyes would show compassion and love. But than he would always blow it off with a smack to the head or some crude joke of his.

I got up and stretched, my auburn hair was still in the braid that Miss Carol had put it in last night. I moved carefully around the tent so that Daryl didn't wake up and yell at me or soomething. As the zipper moved slowly under my fingers I still couldn't help but wince at the slightest sound that it produced.

"Nora?" Daryl's sleep filled voice called. Darn it!

''Yea."

"What are you doing up?"

"Oh ya know," I started. "Was thinking 'bout looking for Merle."

He studied me for a second, looked up at the ceiling of the blue tent and sighed. "No. We been over this I thought, you don't leave this tent unless me or Merle are with ya and I ain't 'bout to get my ass up so we can go find Dipstick."

Since the outbreak had happened and the dead start coming back I had become very protected of my brothers. And visa-versa. They were all I had left and I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for them.

"Daryl." I protested. All I wanted to do was find Merle and maybe, just maybe, go see if any of the other kids are up. Since we had came to this camp I had wanted to become friends with the other kids, even if they were older than me, but the boys rarely left me out of their sight if they didn't have too.

"I hope you ain't whining cause you know i won't listen to that for long." He sighed. "Jesus Nor, you're nine years old, you don't need to be out on your own now lay your ass down and go back to sleep."

He was being so unfair! I was almost ten for crying out loud, I think I know how to take of myself. I stayed next to the tent flap and just stared at him. Daryl's blue eyes glaring into my green ones.

"We gonna have a problem?" Once his tone dropped low I knew that if I didn't quit soon we would have a problem and I didn't exactly want that.

"No." I murmured.

"Good than lie back down and leave me the hell alone!" He snapped. Merle and him talk to each other and to me like that all the time but it still stings a little. So I go and lay down on my red and black sleeping bag and curl up away from my brother. A small tear escapes and I sniffle once.

"Nora." Daryl whispers. "Stop that crying. C'mere."

He wraps an arm around my waist and pulls me a little bit closer to his sleeping bag. I stay still and just enjoy the comfort and warmth that comes from him. Secretly, he's my favorite brother. Daryl ,unlike Merle, makes me feel better after he makes me upset and he doesn't mind showing affection every now and than.

After awhile I feel his light breath on the back of my head and his rough hands goes a little more loose on my stomach. My eyes start to close just about the time his soft snoring starts up. I smile slightly as he makes a funny noise in the back of his throat and finally drift into dream land. Or nightmare land.

**TWDTDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWD**

When I woke up again later, Daryl was no longer beside me. Even though I knew were in a camp I still couldn't help but feel alone without my brothers' presence. The sunlight warmed the back of my shirt as I stepped out, looking for any sign of the boys. None. Feeling out of place and not sure what to do I shuffled my feet a little and started to draw little patterns in the dirt with my boot clad foot. The boots were pink camoflauge, a present I had gotten from Merle for my last birthday and back when the world was normal. I heard a low whistle and turned to the side to see Merle walking towards me.

"Hey Darlin'," he drawled out. "Looks like I got me a run today."

I felt uneasy about having him leaving me and even the big grin on his face couldn't help. Even though he was annoying and mean sometimes, he was still my brother and I never want anything to happen to him. The feeling in my belly didn't let up as he went into the tent to collect his pack.

"Merle." I whispered. He either didn't hear me or was ignoring me so I became a little louder.

"_Merle_."

"Hmm?" Was the only response I got as he was busy rifling through his belongings.

I knew that he may get mad at me and that I might get in trouble for I was going to say, so I hesitated.

"You got something so say Nora or ya just gonna stand next to me and breath down my neck?" He was getting impatient so in a rush I blurted out.

"I don't want you to go!"

He gave me a long sideways glance and blew out of his mouth through his dirty tobacco and coffee staind teeth.

"Well we need stuff and Daryl went huntin' and I ain't askin' for permission little missy."

I knew there was nothing I could do to change his mind so I just stared at my pink boots again and thought that pretty soon they may be the only thing of Merle I'll have left. The very thought brought tears to my eyes and I looked away to the forest.

"Hey!" Merle snapped. "Ya best knock that off right now little girl. I can give ya somethin' to cry about if ya want. That what you want. Hmm?"

I brought my tear glistened eyes up to meet his glare and gave one right back. 'Why do I care if he even comes back? He can just disapear for all I care.' I thought.

"No."

He went to ruffle my hair but I ducked and smack at his hand with a scowl on my face, which earned me a deep, raspy laugh from him.

I followed him as he finished collecting his stuff and than to the truck but I wasn't really paying attention to what he was doing or saying to people, I was still silently fuming over him leaving. Suddenly two fingers snapped in my face. I looked up to see that we had reached the SUV they were taking for the run and that Merle was leaning over me with an unhappy look on his face

"Ya hear anythin' that I just said." I shook my head and he sighed for the upteenth time today. "I said ya best stay near Carol and don't do anythin' stupid."

I don't know what came over me but I couldn't help but say back, "Yea you too."

I was surprised when he gave me a chuckle instead of the head cuff that I was expecting.

"Ya givin' me lip little missy! Huh?" He teased as he poked a finger into my ribs. In spite of being mad I gave a little giggle. Just a little one and shook my head. He gently cupped the back of my head and ran his hand down my hair. When he reached my split ends he patted my back. Than before I knew it my nice moment was over and he was loading up into the car while flirting and being crude with the blonde up front. _Merle_. He gave me one last look and smiled and than that uneasy feeling crept back into my tummy. I felt that something was going to go wrong and more than ever wanted Daryl.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the Walking Dead except for my own character. Kinda wish I owned Daryl though. I am going to apologize for any minor spelling problems, I don't have a beta and it's my first story soo let's just see how this goes... Please enjoy:) Critisism is welcomed as long as I won't cry over it haha

The day was hot and I spent most of it within the watchful eyes of Miss Carol. She was nice, a little quiet, but over all nice. I didn't mind staying with her and her daughter, Sophia, but at times I felt a pang of jealousy run through me at the sight of them. Seeing them together made me miss my own mother very much and made me think of all she used to do, braid my hair, tell me stories, tell the boys to get off my back about things and most of all her singing. Mama wasn't what normal people would call a 'pretty' singer but her voice was soft and natural.

When mama died, I was about six which made Daryl seventeen and Merle around twenty. I don't remember much about it, just that I would cry every night until Merle or Daryl would come get me and bring me into their room. Than I would lie on the bottom bunk with Daryl and stare at the wall until exhaustion won and I finally fell into a horrible, restless slumber. I guess that is why Darly and me are so close. He was always there for me when I needed him and even though he had a rough exterior I knew that he had a soft spot just for me. After the death of her, Dad lost it. He drank and yelled and hurt the boys at times. They always pushed me to go outside or in my room if he was geting violent and I had no problem with that, he had never been a father to me anyways. When the boys were at work I would scurt around him and try to be invisible. And it usually worked, until one day that it didn't.

_**Flashback**_

When the bus dropped me off at the little trailer park me and Toby, a boy from my school, ran to the entrance.

"Maybe you should speed up Dixon!" He called out.

I stuck my tongue out at him and pushed my legs even faster. They burned from the extra power I was putting into them but I didn't care, all I wanted to do was show Toby who the real boss was. As we rounded the corner we were parallel with each other and laughing. All to soon though the race was over and we were at the our side by side dirty white trialer homes.

"See ya later Dixon Girl." He said with a wink over his shoulder as he headed towareds his own home.

"Bye Toby Kelly!"

I walked around the rusty red pick up and jogged up the stairs to the house. As soon as the door was opened the smells of tobacco and Jack Daniels hit my nose. Dad was sprawled out on the couch, feet on the coffee table and a bottle of Jack in his loose grip. He caught my glance and immedietly snarled, "What the hell are you doin' here! Ain't ya 'sposed to be in school!?"

"N-no." I stuttered. "The bus just dropped me off. I swear!"

He got up off the couch and started towards me. "You back talking me!?"

To terrified to answer I stood there and frantically shook my head.

"Answer me!" He bellowed with drunken rage and threw the bottle at the wall. It was all I could do to not gag at the stale whiskey breath entering my nostrils.

"No, I'm not back talking. I promise that I am bein-" I was cut off as he grabbed me and threw me across the room and into the kitchen. My heart pounded and I could feel the hot prick of tears forming in my eyes.

"Please." But my plea fell on deaf ears and he walked over to me and kicked me in the ribs, hard.

"You wanna lie and back talk me! I'll make sure you ain't ever even _think _'bout doing that!"

He beat me and I cried but nothing seemed to work. Why was he doing this to me? About the time I started to loose consciousness the door opened and only yelling could be heard. Two rough hands grabbed me and I let out a gasp of pain. My crying only intensified when I realized that they were Daryl's hands and no longer my dad's. As carefully as he could he picked me and cradled my head to his chest.

"D-Daryl." I hicupped. "It hurts. Please make it stop."

He kissed the top of my head and bounced me a little in his arms. "Shhhhhh, Sweetheart. I know. Shhh, shhh, shhh.

He began to walk me towards the door and out to the truck but before he could sheild my eyes I saw Merle laying over our daddy and throwing punches and yelling words that would have me in big trouble.

As we walked out I caught a glance at Toby. Toby? Why was he there?

"Is she gonna be okay?" He asked as he rushed to my brother's side.

I could feel Daryl nod. "Yea kid, she gonna be just fine. Just need to get her to the doctor and cleaned up. Thanks for callin' when ya did Toby. Now git." Oh so that's why he was there. He must have came for something and saw him beating me and called Daryl and Merle from their job at the shop.

I heard the door to Merle's blue truck sqeak open and Daryl sat down with me in his arms. Not long after, the house door slammed and than the other truck door did too.

"She okay?" Merle's gruff voice asked.

"I think so. She's gonna have a shiner and a few bruised ribs I think but I reckon she'll be fine."

Merle's hand grabbed the bottom of my purple t-shirt and pulled up, revealing my bruised chest and belly. He prodded around and I whimpered.

"Hush." Was all he said, but there was no heat behind it.

After further inspection for any serious injuries he put the truck in first and started to drive to the hospital. The rest was really a blur. I never saw my dad again and Merle and Daryl became my perminet gaurdians. The trailer was sold and we moved to a somewhat rundown cabin just outside of the city. It was just the three of us and it was alright by me if anyone asked. The boys never told me what happened to _him _and I stopped asking after Merle promised to tan me if I asked one more time. So I let it go and just focused on school and not doing anything that would get me in trouble. When everything felt like it was going right in the world for once, the dead started to come back to life and it was all haywire again.

_**End flashback**_

"Nora, honey, you're a little too close to the edge why don't you come closer to us?" Miss Carol asked me, but I knew it wasn't really a question so walked I back over to the other kids.

Sometimes I really hated being a kid. I wanted to do what I wanted and when I wanted to! But of course that would never happen, and even when I do get bigger I'm almost positive that Daryl and Merle will still always be the boss of me.

After a while I got bored of playing tag and trying to talk to Carl and Sophia so I went to the big pick up truck that was Daryl's. The paint was chipping in some spots and the cloth seats weren't the nicest, but I loved this truck. I had so many good memories in it and it was the last thing that I had that was like home. Carl and Sophia were nice I guess but we were different people. Daryl always said that I had been very mature for my age and that a lot of times I surprised him with what I would say. But Sophia didn't think that I was and everytime I would try to talk to Carl or her she would just glare at me. Part of me kinda wanted to tackle her but she was bigger and I didn't want to get in trouble so I just walked away. Miss Carol doesn't even know, but right now I don't care to much. I miss my brothers and for the first time I actually feel alone. I keep telling myself that they'll be back and all but for some reason I just have a hard time believing it. A tear started to roll down the side of my face and I didn't even bother to wipe it away, no one was here to see it so it wasn't that important. What if I end up alone? No one would pretect me and tell me when it's time to go to bed, or eat or tell me to shut up when I was being to dramatic over something. Or even give me a hug when I have nightmares, or make sure that i'm safe and warm at night. A few more tears came and shortly after those so did the sobs. My shoulders started to shake and I could feel my belly start to ache from it. It may have been ninety-five degrees in the truck but that didn't stop me from reaching behind the seat to grab one of Daryl's jackets that he kept in there. I draped it over my tummy and chest and layed down on the worn bench seat, breathing in the smell of hunting oil and chew, the smell of my brothers.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't any of the Walking Dead, just the characters I make up. Please review, I would love to know what people like and don't like and what I could do to improve the story:) Any chapter ideas or comments are welcomed too! Enjoy!**

A hand tapping on the glass woke me up. Huh, I don't even remeber falling asleep. Reaching over I opened the door and there stood Lori, one of the other moms at the camp, actually Carl's. Even though I have the same blue eyes as Daryl and Merle and our daddy, my mama had brown straight hair and sometimes when I look at Lori it's almost like looking at my mama.

"Sweetheart, everyone at camp is looking for you. Why did you come down here? I thought Carol was supposed to be watching you." She said with that perfect mom look. Her mouth was set tight but her eyes didn't look mad just... scared, stressed?

I quickly realized that I could be in trouble and I felt the heat rise to my cheeks and my ears. "I just wanted to be alone. I didn't mean to make anyone worry, i'm sorry."

"What would your brothers have done if you had done this while they were here, hmm, i'm sure that they wouldn't have liked it."

Panic filled me. "Please don't tell them Miss Lori, I didn't mean anythin' by it. I just wanted to be alone for a little and I said I was sorry." I knew the boys wouldn't be happy and I really didn't want to have a "talking" to or even a lecture. I really hated being in trouble, hated the feeling of disapointing someone and hated the feeling of being stupid 'cause I did what I did.

"Honey, I think that they should know, I mean sorry wouldn't have cut it if something had happened to you." Her eyes held sympathy but I was started to get mad at her. I couldn't just tell her that the one of the reasons I left was because Sophia was being mean and that Carl didn't even really talk to me because I was younger.

"Yea but nothing _did _happen!" I snapped. I saw her face change and she look surprised for a second, but than that quickly changed back to the stern look. Who cares, she wasn't my parent. "Fine go a head and tell him, see if I care." I jumped out of the truck and ran towards the water's edge. Once there I stood by it and just watched as little fish babies swam around looking for something to do and something to eat. _Yea, I feel ya_. I stayed there for a long while until my stomach growled at me, than I started towards the camp.

When I got back to the camp I froze in my place. There talking to Lori was Daryl. A man with brown, curly hair and a beard was also with her and he was wearing a police officer outfit?He kept using his hands to try to calm my brother down, I think.

"You left him there?!" I heard Daryl yell. _Left who_?

The man with Lori talked quietly to Daryl and than pointed to me. Crud, I didn't think they would have seen me. I started to back away, towards where I came, but Daryl caught my eyes and snapped his fingers at me. He pointed to the spot next to his left leg and I had no choice but to walk to it. So sheepishly I ducked my head to hide the blush and walked over to his side. When I got close to his leg I snuck a glance at his face and he didn't look happy at all. His jaw was set and his eyes were slitted. Dang it...

"We can leave in ten and than head back to get him if ya like." The other man said. I automatically started to like him, he was gentle and quiet. Different than everyone that I had known growing up. I liked that.

I saw Daryl nod his head, than I was quickly jerked to the side and he was crouched down in front of my face.

"What is wrong with you, Nora?!" He hissed.

I came up blank for a moment than I remembered, "I-I don't know, I was alone and I missed you guys a-and I wasn't getting along with the other kids. I just wanted to be alone, please don't be mad."

His glare only intensified. "You can bet your ass i'm mad. I told you to stay here, at the camp! Not go off and not tell anyone." He stood up and started pacing, which is never good. "You had people looking for you, do ya really think these people need more ta worry 'bout? They got their own shit to deal with 'sides looking for a moping little girl that can't do what she's told. Am I right?" I nodded my head cause I could feel tears coming to my eyes and my throat was feeling tighter by the second. I hated when he was mad at me, knowing that I had made him mad and disapointed was the worst feeling in the world. Even worse than when I made Merle upset. Speaking of which, where is he?

"I'm sorry." I whispered.

"Yea, ya are cause ya got caught. But if'n Lori hadn't found ya I don't think that ya woulda lost any sleep over it."

I just looked down because I was crying and he was also probably right. A tear ran into my mouth and the salt stung my already chapped lips. Than I was picked up and Daryl sat me on his hip and started walking towards the truck. His strides were long and powerful and for a moment I was reminded of how strong my brother was. He sat me on the tailgate, gently actually, and looked at me.

"Your gonna sit right here and think 'bout what ya coulda done today instead of not listenin' to me. Ya hear?"

I looked around to see if any other kids were around but luckily no one was. That didn't stop my cheeks from heating up though.

"Daryl," I whined. "I'm to old for a time out."

He just scoffed and glared at me. "Uhuh, you're nine. It's actually the perfect age for a time out." I just dropped my head and started to silently cry again, slightly embarrest. All I had wanted was to be alone and miss my brothers and it got me in trouble.

"I was really scared that you weren't gonna come back to me, ya know." I said after a few moments of silence. "I didn't just go to the truck to get away from people, I wanted to be with your stuff too. You never even asked what was wrong."

I heard him sigh and felt the tailgate move as he sat beside me.

"I'm sorry that you were scared Nors, but ya gotta learn that you can't do things like that now, it's dangerous and the world ain't safe for little girls like ya ta be alone in."

"What if you or Merle don't come back one time when you leave?" I felt him stiffen besides me as if I had said something wrong.

"You ain't gotta worry 'bout that. Done told ya me an' Merle can take care of ourselves. We just gotta worry about you. And I always come back. Always have, always will."

Than for some reason my eyes started watering more than ever and all I wanted to do was cry and be in my big brother's lap. So I did. Slowly I wormed my way into his lap and into the strong arms I knew would always protect me. Darly's blue eyes found mine and he smirked.

"Ain't ya a little old to be sittin' in my lap again?"

"Uhuh," I said. "I'm nine, i'm actually the perfect age."


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Walking Dead, I just like to use their charaters:) Also thank you MonkeysGoBoo and SoleFaith for the most epic views! I really really apreciate the comments and the positive responses, it means a lot to me!**

After awhile Daryl moved me off of his lap and more to the side of him. I layed my head on his arm and than a thought came to me.

"Hey Daryl?" I asked as I turned my body to him. He just grunted, a sign to carry on with my question. "Where's Merle?"

For the second time today I felt his body tense when I mentioned our oldest brother. He clenched his jaw tight and than turned his head to spit on the ground. When he faced me again I saw that his eyes held anger and sadness. He peirced his lips before he talked to me.

"You know the man that you saw with Miss Lori that was talkin' to me?" His voice was gruff but still soft. I simply nodded my head. "Well that's actually Carl's daddy and they picked him up when they made their run into the city. But you know how Merle is an' he was starting some stuff so they cuffed him, an' things happened and he got left so's I gotta go an' get 'im."

For the upteenth time this day tears pricked at my eyes and I prayed that the wetness would go away before Daryl saw them. What was I suposed to do though, I had just found out that my brother got left in a city where even I know the dead have taken over, and to top it off my only other living relative was going there. _I knew Merle shouldna gone_.

"Will you come back?" I finally choked out.

Daryl, my big brother, just looked at me before he nodded and gathered me back into his arms for a few more moments. Good moments. Than all to soon he patted my back and let go. He slid off of the tailgate to gather his stuff. I stayed by his side the entire time and everytime I would sniffle he would reach over and sqeeze my shoulder or pet my head. Even though he didn't always verbally say that he loved me I never doubted that he did. Daryl had his own kind of langauge that I had learned, he was quiet but I always knew what he was thinking or feeling. When he was done throwing his stuff in a pack and checking the weapons he started walking towards the van that they were taking to the city.

"Daryl," I started to say but was cut off by his glare. He already knew I was gonna ask if he really had to go, I guess Daryl knew my language to.

"This ain't up for dicussin', you stay in the tent while i'm gone. Ya hear?"

All I could do was nod because I really didn't want to get in more trouble.

"You stay in the tent and you listen to the adults if they tell you to do something. I'm under enough crap and I don't need to come back again to find out that my little sister smarted off and went missing." The way he said it was so harsh and I was taken back by the tone he was using. I knew how Daryl was when he was stressed but it still stung to hear him say those words... even if they were true.

He glanced at me for another moment and than he grabbed the back of my head and pulled me tight into his hard stomach, he scratched the back of my head slightly with his rough hand. When Daryl pulled me away he paused and his knuckle brushed my sunburnt cheek.

"Stay safe little missy."

twdtwdtwdtwdtwdtwdtwdtwdtwdtwdtwdtwd

I spent the day in the tent, like Daryl had said, but geez Louis it was boring. I tried to read one of the big books that Daryl had but I didn't understand half of the words. I colored with one of my few notebooks and half broken pencils and I thought of clever things to say to the kids in camp but nothing I did seem to really pass much time. My stomach was twisted in knots and no matter what, I couldn't keep my worst thoughts at bay. _What if they didn't come back? Would I be an ophan? How long could I last without them?_ Finally after some time had passed and some tears had been leaked onto my sleeping bag I fell asleep, only to be awaken by nightmares and screaming.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Walking Dead just really like it:) I'm open to any suggestions or ideas! Also anything that I can do better please tell me:)**

I jolted awake when I heard the first scream, then the moans came. The breathless gasps that the dead make will make you blood run cold and your heart beat faster than a race horse. I quickly untangled myself from the mess of blankets and went to unzip the tent. _Was it safer in here?_ Daryl had said to stay in here and usually he's always right about things. With inner termoil still going on inside me I opened the tent flap and stepped out, quiet as a mouse. The mid summer air hit me in the face and even though the tent was thin the screams seemed louder out here. I looked around and decided that my best bet was to get away from the people. I started running down the hill and away from the camp when I felt a dead, cold hand fall on my shoulder. I screamed and tried to shake it off but the dead man's fingers held on tight. I struggled to breath as I realized that this was it.

Than two arms picked me up and hauled me away from the body, the body went down with an arrow to it's head. And only that arrow could belong to one person.

"Daryl!" I cried and struggled against the arms holding me. Tears and snot were running down my face but I didn't care I just wanted my brother. His eyes met mine and looked relieved, then there was a scream and they went back to being in "hunter" mode. Suddenly he ran past me and towards the camp and I didn't understand. It was than that I realized that Merle wasn't with them and Daryl must not care about me anymore. How could he just leave me? I was his sister, even if Merle wasn't here I could still help him somehow, i'm sure. The man T Dog threw my on his hip and ran us towards the camp again. I didn't fight him because I didn't care anymore. As we neared the camp all was quiet, and then there were new sounds, sobs. Sad, misery filled sobs, and I could do nothing but join them. T Dog started to bring me to the RV but stopped when we saw to bodies there, one dead and one pleading. My stomach lurched when I saw that it was Amy. It wasn't like I had really known her but she always had a kind smile and some kind of silly joke for me. I guess it was more sad just knowing that more people I knew were going to be gone. My stomach twisted again and leaned off T Dog's arm to empty it.

I felt two new hands grab me then. Rough ones. I shifted from one person to the other and the movement caused my stomach to repeat it's moments before performance.

"Shh shh shh, come on lil' darlin' calm down. It's fine now, you're safe." Daryl pushed my hair over my face and looked me in the eyes. "You been scratched? Bit?"

I couldn't reply because I couldn't talk. I had not stopped my paniced breathing pattern yet and so no words would come out of my mouth. I could only cry and swallow big gulps of air.

"She okay?" Someone asked.

"Yea," Daryl's gruff voice answered. "She'll be fine."

"C'mon princess." He said as he lifted me higher on his hip. His right forearm under my butt and his left hand holding my head into his shoulder. I tried to raise my head but he didn't let me, instead keeping it there and keeping the veiw of the camp away from me. Daryl held me and helped me calm down. He coached me through my panic and soon I was taking in normal, slightly shakey, breaths.

"You scratched or bit?"

I shook my head no and inhaled the smell of his shirt. I didn't care if it smelled bad or stinky, I was just happy that my brother was with me.

"I'm happy you came back for me." I paused. "Even if you do smell a little."

He chuckled a bit and I wasn't sure why, I was only telling the truth. Why was that funny?

"I always come back for you. Always have..."

"Always will." I finished for him.


	6. Thank You

**Dear the Most Amazing People in the World Ever,**

**Thank you sooo much everybody for the incredible reviews! It makes me incredibly happy to know that people like my story:') The reviews that I read made me feel more confident about my writing! I am sure that there is more that I can learn and improve on, and if you know any tips please share:) I honestly can't even describe how happy I am. There's been a lot going on in my life and so I like to get away from it and write. I never thought I was any good, and I know my writing could still improve over time, but I have gained more confidence from writing and uploading my story, and I only have you guys to thank! If you have any ideas please share with me, I like challenges so I think it would be interesting to see the results I get from people. Thank you so much for the love and taking the time to give my story a shot. Means more to me than any of you know! So again, thank you!**

**Sincerly, yankeegirl14**

**P.S Here's the next chapter, I wasn't gonna upload til tomorrow but you guys are so flipping amazing, that I wanted to post it tonigt. Enjoy! **


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Walking Dead characters... sigh. Reveiws are always welcomed, I would really like to know what people think of this story:) Okay Daryl may seem a little out of character this chapter. It seems that most people like it when Daryl is his true redneck self, but I had this idea and I really wanted to share it! I know he's always gruff and rough but I always imagined that if he had a little sister he'd be really sweet and soft with her when she was scared or sick. He won't be like this all the time because I kind of like the hard personality of Daryl. But I do like that sensitive side of him that gets to be shown every now and than to certain people. Any thoughts on it (dislike or like)? Let me know:)**

Daryl wouldn't let me out of his sight the entire night. Once the area was cleared of any stray walkers the adults set up a watch patrol. Daryl, Rick, Glenn and T-Dog wouldn't be keeping watch tonight because they had just gotten back from the city. This was fine by me, I didn't want my only brother left away from me. That and I was still shooken up, not scared though, about what had happened and I kind of didn't want him to leave me unprotected.

Everyone condensed the camp and more people were in their cars instead of the tents that were set up, including Daryl and I. A truck bed to most people probably wouldn't be so comfy, but I had been hunting and camping with my brothers for years so it felt pretty homey and normal to me. The only part that wasn't normal was that Merle wasn't on my other side snoring as loud as he possibly could in my ear.

With the adrenaline and panic wearing off I realized two things. Daryl was never leaving me again and Merle didn't come back with him.

"Daryl?" I asked as I was getting settled in the nest of blankets he had created for me.

He regaurded me with a look and a grunt. I could tell he was exhausted but he was too stuborn and on edge to even close his eyes for a second.

"Why wasn't Merle with you?" My voice quivered for a second and I cleared my throat. I was almost ten, to old for crying, and I felt like I had done enough crying lately for the entire state of Gorgia. Well atleast the for people who were still... people.

I heard Daryl sigh before he answered. "Merle wasn't... wasn't there."

"What!?"

"Shhh, keep it down Nora." He paused for a moment. "He still out there though. If there's one thing I know, he ain't dead. Can't be."

I stared at my brother, "How can you be so sure, did you see him?!" It didn't make sense, if Daryl had seen Merle why didn't he get him to come back.

"Nora, I ain't gonna tell ya again, keep it down." Than his voice softed as did his eyes. "No girl, I didn't see him but we both know Merle is the toughest sumbitch ever right?" I didn't say anything. "Right?" He asked again with a poke to my ribs.

I giggled a little. "Yea."

"Good."

Daryl was sitting up in the back of the truck, his back to the back window and his legs stretched out in front of him. His trusty crossbow was beside him along with the 12 gauge and his Beretta. I guess he wasn't taking an chances tonight. They were to his left as I was to his right. They alwasys kept the guns on the opposite side of them when we camped, they were always smart and careful around and with their guns. I knew not to touch them but Merle and Daryl had made sure that I knew how to clean and reload them safetly if I had to.

I laid down and put my head on his thigh, studying a stain that was in his jeans. The boys had both sent me to do the laundry with the women earlier this week and he already had a stain!Well he could just wash his own jeans from now on.

It's funny how your brain changes from subjects so easily. I had just been through an attack, people had died and Merle was still missing and all I could, or wanted to, focus on was the stain in Daryl's jeans. I sighed.

Daryl's hand came down on my shoulder, "Ya alright Nors?" His voice was qiuet but he still sounded concerned. I nodded and allowed myself to snuggle closer to him.

"Daryl you should get some sleep. I can keep watch for a little." I figured I could stay up for a while. I could keep Daryl safe, I mean he was all I had left, I had to. I wanted to brave like hime and Merle and show that I wasn't just a crybaby, I could help too. But just as I said that a treacherous yawn escaped my lips.

My brother gave a deep low chuckle that shook his body. "Stop worrying about me Darlin', sides you should be asleep right now. Just cause there's dead people walkin' round don't mean that you ain't got a bedtime little missy."

I smiled a little at the pet names and rolled over onto my stomach. I knew that I should be more scared and probably traumatized but Daryl was with me. I knew that nothing could ever happen to me while he was here, he wouldn't let it. I wanted to be brave like that, but it just seemed like it was so hard sometimes. My nerves always got the best of me at the last moment and I always ended up crying.

"Daryl?" I asked.

"Nora." He said back with a bit of warning in his voice.

"I swear just one last question." He grunted and so I continued. "You don't think i'm a wimp for crying right?"

"Jeez Nor, where did that even come from? No I don't think your a wimp, I think you're a nine year old little girl who gets scared when the world goes to shit. That's okay, but remember that I ain't letting anything happen to ya. Ya just gotta follow what I say and trust me. Can you do that?" I nodded. "Alright." He put his hand on my back and started to rub it in big circles, dang it he knew that always got me to go to sleep. I yawned again.

"Dary-" He cut me off.

"I also think that you're a litle girl who better close her pretty blue eyes and go to sleep before I knock ya out myself. Capisce?"

I smiled, nodded and yawned one last time before I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep, with Daryl's comforting hand still on my back.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I don't the Walking Dead, but I wish that I did! And thank you so much again for the awesome reviews! They all have been so encouraging and sweet! I know my spelling isn't all that great but hopefully the grammar is alright (well except for Daryl's but he wouldn't be him if he didn't see ain't and things like that haha). Also I was read the story over again and I thought it was kind of funny how Daryl and Merle both have accents and pronounce things differently but Nora does not. Sorry if that was confusing, I think I'm gonna try to tell why that is because they are siblings. So this next chapter may not go **_**exactly **_**like the show but that's the nice thing about fanfiction:) Enjoy!**

"C'mon." Was the first thing I heard in the morning. "Ain't gonna tell you again," Was the second. Ahh Daryl, always the morning person...

"Go 'way." I mumbled into my pillow.

" Excuse me?" He growled. "You wanna rethink that little missy?"

Ugh, for the love of everything that's holy, was a little more sleep too much to ask for? Not like I had nightmares all night or anything. No, I didn't want to rethink my statement, I was tired and grumpy and I really did want Daryl to leave me alone. I mean I didn't because I was still kind of spooked but I wanted him to just be nice and let me sleep. I peeked a glance at him out from under my hair and decided that maybe I did want to change my answer. He didn't look happy at all and his jaw was clentched.

Daryl had some warning signs that I had learned over the years. When his jaw clentched it usually meant that whatever someone had said had not been the right thing to say. Me in this case. When his nostils flared it was usually because someone shoved him or got in his space. Fist clentching was never a good sign, it was his-shut-my-mouth-but-cuss-you-out-in-my-head-or-truck therapy excersise. And glaring was just his overall bad apple look. All of these together meant that someone's butt was about to be stomp and handed to them, atleast that's what I noticed.

Daryl may be tough and scary sometimes but he never laid a hand on me unless I needed "correction" as he would put it. People would give him and Merle nasty looks sometimes and Merle usually had something to say to them but Darly almost always kept his head down and his thumb nail tucked firmly in his mouth til we passed. It made me mad to think that people could be so mean to others, Daryl had not brought me up like that. He always wanted me to "act like a lady" in public and be polite but I guess not everyone was taught that.

So I sat up, "Daryl i'm just really tired and I want to sleep some more."

He looked at me for a second than reached over to feel my forehead. Weird, he only does that when he's worried I was getting sick.

"You feelin' okay Nora? Need ya to be real honest with me right now." He looked really worried and so that made me worry.

"I feel fine, what's wrong?." I didn't understand why he was acting so paniced but it was scaring me.

His eyes flicked back and forth between mine and he sighed. "Yea it's fine, just don't want ya to get a cold or anythin'. Ya lazy enough as it is." He said the last part with a dramatic eye roll though and it made me giggle.

He jumped off of the side of the truck than came to my side and held his arms out.

"C'mon, up." I did what he said this time and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes with my fists. Than Daryl put his hands around my waist and lifted me down from the bed and onto the ground.

My sock covered feet hit the ground and I decided to stand on his boot clad feet instead of getting my the socks dirty. I liked these ones, they were camo but had little pink ladybugs on them. Ladybugs are my favorite bug and I used to catch them so much he boys started to call me 'ladybug'. Both the boys really never used my name unless I was in trouble or something serious was going on. I felt like I was hearing 'Nora' a lot more lately.

"Where are your shoes princess?" He said as he noticed my shoesless feet. I pointed to the truck while I let out a yawn. He reached over and grabbed them for me. After they were on he grabbed a granola bar from the cab of the truck and handed it to me.

"Ain't you gonna eat?" I said still groggy.

"Nah Darlin' i'm good. And stop saying ain't."

"You and Merle both say it." I retorted.

"Exactly that's why you ain't gonna. Don't wanna be sounding like Merle's dumb ass do you?" I giggled and shook my head at his joke. "Good. Now I gotta go help with some stuff. Gotta go dig some graves to bury the people so I want you buy me, understood?"

I nodded since my mouth was full of food and he nodded back.

TWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWD

As Daryl dug the graves I sat on my knees and played with some of the wild flowers and bugs on the ground. I was humming 'Tear in My Beer' and I saw Daryl look over and smirk a little. He reached out and ruffled my hair and it made me smile. Times were hard right now, atleast I think that's what I you say when life wasn't being fair to you, Merle had said it once and it seemed pretty darn fitting right now too. But even when life wasn't being fair to me, Daryl always made me smile by some small joke or a kind gesture.

While I was playing with a ladybug on the ground Dale came up to us.

"Hey you guys!" He said with a warm smile. I always liked Dale, he was just a sweet guy that was always smiling and his eyes were so friendly.

Daryl looked up and stopped what he was doing.

"Daryl we have a bit of a problem and I was wondering if you could help us." My brother grunted and hopped out of the hole.

"What do you need?" He asked roughly, not rude just gruff.

"Well I heard that you used to work at a garage and I need some help getting the RV to start, would you mind helping?" Dale smiled at me and added, "And the other kids are by the RV if you want to play with them."

I looked at Daryl for any direction and he nodded and beckoned for me to come with them as he followed Dale.

When we got to the RV I looked at the kids playing tag and decided to stick by Daryl's side. They looked like they were having fun but I was shy and intimidated that I would just make them mad or something. That and my last expirience wasn't the best with them. I fell back in step with Dale and Daryl until the latter of them stopped and looked at me. He looked at the kids and nodded for me to go play with them.

"Nope," he said. "Go play with them, I need to fix this as quick as I can so I can finish other things and you need to stop being to sensitive and shy." I just looked at him, knowing he was right, but still staying where I was. He turned me around and nudged me in their direction. When I looked back he glared at me so I went up to the kids.

"Hey," I said timidly. "Can I play tag with you guys?"

"Sure!" Carl yelled. I looked at Sophia for her reaction but she seemed fine with it, so I jumped in and played tag. After some time of playing tag Sophia ended up falling and I rushed to her side.

"Are you okay?" I asked, looking over her legs and hands for any injuries. Just because I didn't quite like her didn't mean I would want her to get hurt.

"Yea," she said as she grabbed her ankle. "Just twisted it I think."

It was than that I looked at her and realized that she was different than I though. Instead of being stuck up and mean I saw a different persona. She looked so much like Darly, her eyes held a forever frightened look and she wrapped her arms around herself, she looked vulnerable. I instantly felt for her.

Sophia and I ended up quitting tag and instead when she asked me if I wanted to make sting braclets with her, I said yes. I hung out with her while Daryl was off doing things. That was fun, she was much different than I thought and I enjoyed sitting by her and her mother Carol.

Daryl came over though and told me it was time to go. I walked with him and we went to the funerals for the ones who had not made it from the attack. It was hard to watch and halfway through it I hid my head in Daryl's dirty pant leg. He let me and afterwards led me back to the truck. We packed up our stuff and when I asked him why all he said was that Jim got sick and we needed to go find a doctor and somewhere safer to stay. Made sense to me so I packed the little I had and got in the truck. I felt bad for Jim, he was a little off at times but he was one of the only ones who didn't look at my brothers like they were trash and I liked him for that.

The truck door creaked as Daryl got in and then groaned and rumbled as he turned the engine over. I looked back at our camp for a moment and than looked forward. As the truck got onto the main road I closed my eyes and hoped that where ever we were going was going to be safe. And was gonna have air conditioning, jeez it was hot!

**Kind of a cheesey ending but I really didn't know where to make this chapter stop and the next one begin. Hopefully the next one will be better! Thanks for reading it and let me know what you would like to see change and stay the same! Okay so i'm hoping to be able to write a bunch and get a couple more chapters out before the weekend because I have people stayin with me so i'm not sure how much I am gonna be able to write but hopefully I can upload some more chapters:)! Let me know what you like and please let me know what you don't like. Thank you so much everybody!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Walking Dead, just my OC's. **

**Author's Note: Oh my goodness! I am so sorry that it took me soooooo long to write a chapter! There was seriously a million things going on, but I do apologize. Although I did write a oneshot based off of this story, if your interested check it out and let me know what you think:)! I also wrote one for Supernatural because I was day dreaming one day... Thank you for the suport and being patient with me. And I will try to be waaaaay better about posting chapters more often and quicker. Thank you again and message me to know what you want to see. I think I am going to throw a surprise in the next chapter;) Enjoy!**

The ride to the city was long and crazy hot. Daryl was really tense for a lot of it and that made me nervous. I had grown up to always trust his and Merle's judgement, well maybe more of Daryl's than Merle's. They always knew what was best for us and so to see Daryl stressed about a situation we were going to be in, made me feel a little uneasy too. I kept my mouth shut for most of the ride but I would still sneak glances at him from time to time. One time while I was doing it he caught me though.

"You just gonna keep staring at me?" He asked.

"Noooo," I drawled out. "Just wanted to try to guess what you're thinkin' bout."

"I'm thinkin' bout a lot of things." He said. "When we get to the city you need to stay right beside me, ya hear?"

"Yea."

He looked at me for a second than sighed. "The city, it's not, not a real pretty sight and it definetly ain't safe to be wandering off in. Ya might see things that are a little scary but I need ya to be brave and listen to everything I say."

I just nodded a little. He was starting to make me _really _nervous with this talk. I think he could tell because the next thing he did was ruffle my hair.

"It's gonna be fine missy."

I just nodded again because I knew that he was lying beneath his smile.

**TWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWD**

I decided, well actually I didn't but my body did, to sleep on the way there. Guess I was more tired than I thought. Sleep didn't exactly come easily when you were always scared. But I awoke to the truck stopping and Daryl getting out. So naturally I followed him. As soon as he heard my door close he turned back around.

"Maybe you should stay inside the truck." I looked at him confused. "I don't think that Jim's gonna make it much longer and you don't really need to be around that."

Not wanted to really be alone at the sad time I scanned my eyes and found Sophia next to her mother.

I pointed to them. "Can I go over there with Miss Carol and Sophia?"

He stared at me for a second before he grunted and nodded his head. I ran over to where the girls were and Carol pulled me into her arms with Sophia. I hesitated at first because I had not had a mom's touch in so long, but I soon relaxed into it. I could tell that many of the adults were talking about something and then Mr. Shane and Mr. Rick went into the RV and got Mr. Jim out of it. They carried him over to a big tree on the side of the highway and that was when Carol excused herself and walked over to everyone else. It seemed so serious and I couldn't help but feel sad, this was how life was going to end for some people? It just didn't seem right. I think Sophia could either feel my distress or had some of her own because she reached over and grabbed my hand. I looked over and gave her a small smile.

"You okay?" I whispered. She nodded and gave me a small smile back.

"You know my dad?" I did, but she didn't really give me the chance to answer because she just continued on. "The walkers got him last night."

"I'm so sorry Sophia."

She shook her head and I saw her eyes begin to collect moisture, "Don't be, just because he was my dad didn't really make him, you know what I mean?"

I gave Sophia's hand a squeezd. "Yea," I said. " I do."

Me and her were a lot closer than I would've ever guessed. Even though my dad was technically my dad, he really wasn't. I would consider Daryl and Merle closer to a dad than I ever would our dad. Dad's were supposed to protect you and make you feel safe and feed you, my dad never did any of those but Merle and Daryl did all of that and than some.

When I look at it, Sophia really was so similar to the boys and I. It took me this long to see it, and for that I felt kind of bad. I had thought that she was just mean and rude but now that I look closer I see that maybe she just had up a defensive side, sort of like Daryl did.

We stood there for awhile just being quiet and letting each other give silent comfort. Then her mom and Daryl came back to tell us it was time to head back on the road.

"We never left the road though, Daryl." I stated confused.

Miss Carol tried to hide a smile behind her hand but I still caught it, I wasn't trying to be funny though. Daryl gave me a small smile and ruffled my hair, "I know girl, it just means lets get going."

"Oh, okay."

I gave Sophia a hug then Miss Carol, except when she hugged me back she placed a kiss on my temple. It felt weird but at the same time it felt really nice. I didn't know if it was wrong to think that since she wasn't my mom but it felt so good to have that motherly touch I had been deprived from for so many years. When Daryl held his hand out I automatically took it and we started towards his truck. I don't hold Daryl's hand very often but it always felt comforting when I did, and I think he could tell that I was wanting some comfort. Seeing Jim like that was hard, he was very pale and sweaty and looked like he was in a lot of pain. I don't like seeing people in pain.

Daryl held the door open for me and instead of climbing into my spot I climbed into the middle of the bench seat. He raised his eyebrows at me and smiled before getting in the truck and putting it in drive. We drove on the abonded highway for some time and I started to drift off again. The windows were down and it helped to make the truck less stuffy. I closed my eyes and settled against Daryl's arm but I was slightly jostled from him putting in some casset. Than Hank Williams Jr. started to softly play and for the first time in a very long time I felt relaxed.

"So Nors," Daryl started. "You like that little girl, Sophia?"

I looked at him and smile, "Yea, it's nice to actually have a friend with everything that's going on." Thinking about having a friend made me think of Toby Kelly and I grew quiet from missing him.

"Hey girly, what's on your mind now. You was smiling just a second ago, what happened?"

"Miss Toby." Was all I mumbled.

I heard Daryl sigh and then his hand was on my shoulder. "You wanna drive for a little?"

Was he kidding me? He used to let me sit on his lap all the time when we were on the back roads going hunting. I think Merle had let him do once when he was a kid because it was something that we always did together now. But now we were on a highway, not a dirt road and we were driving to the city.

"But we're going somewhere and we're not hunting."

He chuckled a little and than gently pulled me onto his lap. "Don't really matter. No cars besides ours are driving and we're in the back of this train of cars anyways so might as well."

I knew all he was trying to do was distract me, but I was happy for something to get my mind off of everything that was happening in the world. I put my hands on the wheel and kept it going straight while Daryl manned the gas and the break. Every now and then he would grab my hands and make the truck veer to the left or the right a little, which always caused me to giggle a little. I missed this, getting to just have fun with my brothers. Even though I didn't have both of them right now I was happy to have the one I did with me. I just wished that I would get to see the other one soon.

Did you like it? Tell me what you think and what you wanna see in the next chapter. Again I think i'm gonna throw a surprise in there, so don't hate me for it please:) but tell me what you think of it when you read it. Also do you like the fun side of Daryl


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I do own the Walking Dead, just my own OC's. **

**Author's Note: I am really happy with the reveiws I got! Thank you so much for the awesome support, I have never done anything like this in my life but I am super that I did. And thank you KelseyHe Bl for the great idea! Hope you enjoy this chapter and tell me if you like my surprise... It's a little off from the show... okay it is completely off, but I had this idea of how I would want this story to play out in the next season so here's my surprise:) Tell me if you like and tell me if you don't. Enjoy!**

When we pulled up to the CDC I took a look around at my surroundings and was speechless. All around there were bodies. The place looked like one of those horror movies Merle would always watch. I was so lost in the horror beyond my eyes that I practically jumped a mile in the air when Daryl tapped my shoulder.

"Memeber what I said right?" He asked. "Right by me the entire time. You stay in front of me where I can watch you and you keep up. You do not fall behind, not here. You understand?"

He was so intimidating and I was already so scared that I had no problem agreeing to that. "Yes Daryl." He looked at me again and then hugged my to his chest real quick. He placed a rough kiss on my forehead and headed out of the truck. I got out and followed him to the bed of the truck where he grabbed a backpack and the weapons. He got down on his knee and pulled on my belt loops to move me closer to him. That's when I noticed that he put a bowie knife on the waist band of my dirty jeans. I went to go touch it but he smacked my hand away.

"No." He said. "You do not touch this in less you have to. If something happens to me then you grab it and you make sure your ass is safe. Get to Rick or Glen and stay by them. And wipe your eyes! Now is not the time to start crying. You focus right now and you don't leave my side unless I tell you. Got it!?"

He was whispering but it was that kind of whisper where it was more of a yell. I quickly wiped my eyes and nodded my head. I knew he wasn't trying to be mean or anything but all I wanted to do was jump in his arms and have him hold me but I couldn't, not now at least. I could be brave, even if I didn't want to.

"I'm scared Daryl."

He ran his hand through my hair and stood up. His face was soft for a moment, "I know princess. But i'm here and nothing will happen to ya. I promise."

That was the last thing that he said before he grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the group. I spotted Sophia wrapped in her mom's arms and we just looked at each other before we were shuffled along by Mr. Rick. Daryl pushed me slightly in front of him while he held his crossbow up and looked around. We were in the back of the group but I felt safe because I knew he had my back. Everyone started to cover their noses at the smell. The dead bodies had become a feast for the flies and the smell was enough to make me want to gag. I kept up though. I was not going to fall behind. We came up to the building and I swear everyone held their breath. It wasn't because of the stench though. The suspense was almost unbearable as we waited for the Rick and Shane to try to get the door to open. I bounced on my feet nervously, but Daryl put his hand on my shoulder and pressed down, silently telling me to stop.

"Walkers!" My brother yelled. I spun around and looked behind him and my heart stopped. Coming up behind us were six or seven walkers. Their skin decaying and thier eyes tracking us like predators. There was no life in those milky, yellow eyes of theirs, only hunger. I heard two men in the front of the group, probably Shane and Rick, yelling but I was to focused on the dead creatures coming towards us. My hand hovered above the knife on my waist but I refused to touch it. Daryl's words were still fresh in my mind. My brother had his back to me and shot one of the walkers in the head with a bolt. It fell and quick as lightning he had the bow reloaded and ready.

But just as he was about to take aim we saw a bright light and heard the sound of doors opening. Daryl pushed me towards them and we ran together to get in the building, knowing that whatever was in there had to be safer than being out here in the open. As we piled into doorway the men closed the doors forcefully once everyone was inside. Panting with adreniline I leaned against Daryl and took in my surroundings again. The building we were in was bland and plain looking but smelled of house hold cleaner. My eyes scanned everyone that was with us, mentally checking to make sure everyone was okay. Seemed to be.

Than a man came out of the darkened hallway and asked us what we wanted or something. I wasn't really paying attention to him, but I was to the man that came out behind him. He was stalky and a bit older. His hair was blonde and his mouth held a forever smirk.

"Merle?!"

**Okay so do you like the surprise? I kinda miss Ole Merle and wished that he had been in more episodes. Plus I know where I want this next season to go but I want to see if anyone else likes this. The story will still, mostly, follow the episodes but it will have a little twist on each one now. If you don't like it let me know, if you do let me know. Thanks! **


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Walking Dead. **

**Author's note: Okay so it seems like people liked the suprise! Thank you so much for the comments melniewn! And so hopefully the rest of everyone likes it too, but if you don't let me know what I can do to make it better:) I already have an idea of where I want this story to go in the future but if the majority does not like it, I will obviously change it. Enjoy!**

"Merle!?"

I heard myself yell it but I still didn't believe it. How could he be here? I mean, I knew he wasn't dead but is it possible that he's actually here or am I just dreaming? I decided I didn't even care because I ran towards him and leaped into his arms. He crouched down and lifted me easily into his arms. It felt too good to be true, his arms were around me and I knew that he was safe and that now I had my family complete!

"Merle!" I babbled, tears were cloudy my vision and I hastily wiped them away so I could see his face. The face that I missed so much. I took in his features; his scruff and light hair, the small scars on his face from numerous fights and the charming, playful glint in his eyes that I had missed so much. I buried my head into his shoulder and cried softly. He rubbed my back with one hand and held me up with his other forearm. I felt safer than I had in the last few days. Between him and Daryl I knew nothing would ever happen to me and I was just happy to have both of my brothers with me.

He went to put me down and I clung to his shirt, "No!" I half yelled.

His gruff chuckle practically shook me. "Shh, princess. Gotta put ya down for a sec so I can hug my baby brother."

I allowed him to put me down but I hung onto his pants, silently refusing to completely let go of him. He embraced Daryl in one of those "manly" hugs and when Daryl lifted his head, it looked as though he had unshed tears in his eyes. Merle reached out and patted Daryl's cheek, to which Daryl smacked his hand away and laughed. Merle grabbed Daryl behind the neck and then put him in a head lock, and the rough housing began. While they were wrestling around I looked behind me to see the other faces of the group, some were smiling at the scene before them but a few others had concerned looks on there faces.

I didn't know why they would react like that but at the moment I couldn't care less. I was about to try to join in on their rough housing but a throat clearing made us all stop.

"We need to discuss what is going to happen now." Rick said. What did he mean by that? What was there to discuss?

Daryl looked at him and if looks could kill the whole group would be six feet under.

"Ain't nothin' to discuss." My brother said bluntly. "He ain't leaving now that he's here."

"Daryl," Rick started, with his hands in the air. He then looked at me. "There were some 'things' that went down in the city. We need to make sure that won't happen again. And we need to all be understanding each other."

Daryl and Merle looked at each other.

"Here's how I see it Officer Friendly," Merle said. He took a step towards Rick, but Rick stood his ground. "I got left up there, left to die and did you see what happened to my-"

"Hey!" Daryl cut him off and then gestured me with his head. "Merle, she don't really know all the details and I think it's best if it was to stay that way for now."

Merle just nodded and looked Daryl in the eyes, than Daryl nodded. I hate it when they do this. The boys seem to be able to comunicate with out even have to talk, it's so frustrating because they only do that when they don't want me to know something.

Daryl went over to talk to Rick and I tried to follow but Merle grabbed the back of my shirt and shook his head at me while he watched our brother.

Rick looked at Merle with distrust in his eyes, "Seems that if we can all get along for the night we won't have any problems to deal with until later. Later when the kids are busy." He said with his eyes on me again. Why was everyone hiding things from me!? I deserve to know too!

The man that had opened the doors was just standing awkwardly by the entrance. "I'm Doctor Jenner, and if you're gonna stay here get your things quickly because once those doors lock, they stay locked."

The men of the group decided to get the things from the cars, but they all seemed wary of Merle going with them. When they came back the Dcotor told us that we all needed to do a blood sample. I wasn't super happy about that because I had always had a fear of needles. As we got into the evalvator Jenner told us about the building we were in and what it was used for. It felt so nice to actually be somewhere that was safe and secure. I don't think the boys ever slept because they were always keeping watch for walkers. Just the thought of those horrible creatures brought chills to me.

I was a little nervous about the blood sample but Merle made it clear that I didn't have a choice. The nice thing was that me and Sophia did them at the same time. It hurt a little, a lot actually, but having Sophia there to comfort me was helpful. When we were done we sat down and started to talk about the kinds of movies that each other liked. Carl came to join us but soon after he did Miss Andrea almost fell on the floor. I heard someone say that it was because she hadn't eaten anything lately, to which Doctor Jenner said that he had plenty of food to share and that we could pretty much help ourselves.

The food was good and it felt like how I had always imagined a family get-together was like. We never had those because the family we did have wasn't very close and my dad never wanted to go to anything either. For once since the epidemic happened everyone seemed happy and not tense. It was nice to have some normalacy going on. Carl, Sophia and me all sat by each other and told jokes while the adults talked about their pasts and their interests. Most of the adults were drinking wine and laughing more and more from each glass. The only people who weren't drinking wine were the kids and Daryl and Merle. Daryl had a grip on a bottle of Comfort like it was his life line and Merle had a bottle of Jack Daniels that he was nursing. Both had smiling faces and Daryl kept getting Glenn to drink more. I asked Daryl if I could try his whiskey since Carl and Sophia got to try their mom's wine but he said no.

"Awe," Merle said. "Here sweetheart you can have a sip of mine. Daryl's is for wusses anyway." He winked at Daryl then handed me the bottle. I smelled it and thought it had a funny oder but I still put it to my lips and took a tiny sip. I scruntched my face up and almost spit it out. It was hot and burned my throat and made my eyes water.

"Uhhh! How do you drink that!?" I asked still coughing. Daryl patted me on the back while he and Merle just laughed until they were out of breath. I sure didn't think it was funny! I looked around and saw that some of the grown ups had disaproving looks on their faces but Sophia and Carl were laughing just about as hard as the boys. The boys saw me looking around and did the same, them catching even harsher glances from the adults around the table.

"What," Merle said. "You think she's gonna try it again after that? I don't think so. You train them now that it ain't all that great and they don't wanna do it again."

The way he said it kind of made me blush. I wasn't a dog and I didn't need to be trained! The adults seemed to think over what Merle said and after a second they looked satisfied.

"Never thought of it that way." T Dog said. Scratching the back of his head a little. He seemed to be afriad of Merle and I really didn't know why. I knew that Merle could be intimidating but why would T Dog be scared?

Merle looked at him and sneered, "Yea? Well you ain't ever raised a kid before neither!"

T Dog didn't talk much after that.

After dinner Doctor Jenner told us that there was hot water to which Merle had to add, "Yea and go use it, cause most of y'all smell." He said it under his breath but i'm sure that someone still heard it.

"Espcially you missy!" Daryl said as he lifted me and threw me over his shoulder. I giggled uncontrollably as he carried me to the room all three of us would be sharing. Once we got into the room Daryl sat me down on the floor stating that I was not gonna sit on the bed until I was as clean as a whistle.

The shower was amazing! Never in my life had hot water felt so good before. While in the shower I started to think about how blessed I am at this very moment. I have both of my brothers with me, food in my tummy, a safe place to sleep and a shower and bathroom! This place was so much nicer than the trailer or the cabin we lived in, and even with the world as messed as it was, I considered it almost a family vacation. When I got of the shower and got dressed I went into the room and saw that one of the boys had gotten me a big t-shirt from whatever suplies Jenner had, there was also a cot in between the couch and the bed. Merle already claimed the bed so Daryl got the couch and me the cot. Sounded fair to me, I was just happy to have somewhere where all of us could sleep good in.

Daryl went to go take a shower and Merle called me over to his bed once I was changed into the T-shirt. It went past my knees and almost touched the ground. Once I was on the bed Merle did something that was very _un_Merle. He picked me up and put me on his lap, once there he wrapped his arms around me and placed a rough kiss on my head.

"I really missed ya, ya know?" He said as he placed his head on mine.

I turned to look at him. "I missed you a lot Merle. I didn't think I was gonna see you again and I wanted you." Tears started to come to my eyes and I heard my breath hitch.

"Shh, shh, shh. 'Nough of that Nora. You're fine and i'm fine so no need for them tears. Put 'em away." He didn't say it mean and after a few deep breaths I was able to wipe my eyes and return to normal. "I think," he started. "That you and me need to have a talk."

I looked at him with wide eyes, whenever he said that I was in trouble and I couldn't think of anything that I had done. "Calm down Nors." He laughed. "Ya ain't in trouble! Jeez you looked scared as a doe!" His laugh was raspy and to most people sounded annoying but to me it was the best sound in the world at the moment.

"I wanted to tell you that I love ya a lot, little girl. And that not having you or Daryl with me really showed me how much y'all mean to me." He looked away for a second. "You know i'm not good at this talkin' stuff but i'm trying. I know I ain't always been the perfect brother, I've done a lot of things that you don't know and don't need to know about. But after being in the city I realized that my main focus needs to be you and Daryl."

I was so suprised I didn't even know what to do. What he said meant a lot to me so I just smiled and threw my arms around his neck. He chuckled and hugged me back.

"Am I interuping somethin'?" Daryl said as he came into the room.

"No!" Merle said as he shoved me off his bed. "Just trying to get the brat off my bed. Jeez, damn monkey won't leave me alone."

Daryl and I laughed because the both of us knew that joking was his way of sill staying macho.

"Hey!" I said as I threw a pillow at him.

Both of the boys retaliated and a tickle war broke out. Both of them were loosened up from the alcohol but niether were drunk and it felt like old times.

After we were all tired out we climbed into our beds and fell asleep quickly. I knew the boys had the whiskey to partically thank but for me, I slept good just knowing that I was safe and that my brothers were with me. I just hoped it would stay like this for a long time.

**Okay so what do you think of this chapter. It was kind of long but I wasn't really sure just how I wanted it to go. I hope it was cute and fluffy because there is gonna be some sadness in the next chapter :/ Also I know it totally doesn't follow the show at all but I really want Merle to keep his hand because I think that since I saved him and I want him to have his hand:) I will explain how he escaped in the next chapter. So if you don't like please tell me, I love critisism. But if you like it please tell me too:) As always thank you for all the support and amazing feedback!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Authors Note: Thank you everyone for the awesome feedback! It's so cool going to check on my stories and seeing that I have more follewers or more comments:) I feel like my confidence in my writing has improved a lot. I didn't have a whole lot before writing this, and I know there are still things that I can work on, but having everyone saying such sweet things really helps and makes me feel better about myself and my writing, so thank you so much for that! Also i'm really happy that people like that I brought Merle back. I have a lot of "hick" family and friends and so Merle became one of my favorite characters and I feel like he had a good side that the series didn't show til the very end, so I wanted to give him a second chance:) Thanks again everyone and I hope you like this new chapter! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Walking Dead, just my OC's. (Is anyone else like CRAZY excited for the new season!?")**

I woke up and looked around. Merle was asleep on a big white bed and Daryl was on a couch with his forearm under head and a bottle of Jack Daniels on the ground next to his head. My surroundings were unfamilar to me and I was startled until I remembered the nights events. Tears almost came to my eyes again from just knowing that Merle was with us again. All I wanted to do was hold onto him and not let go, for a long time! A devishish Dixon grin spread on my face as I thought about how I could show him how much I missed him.

I crawled out of my roll out bed as quietly as I could and snuck up beside his bed. I looked at his chest and could see that he was still breathing heavy and even. Which I assumed meant he was asleep. I put my hands on the bed real genlty and counted to three before I would pounce. One, two, three! I jumped onto his chest but I forgot that my brother is Merle Dixon. He flipped me over and pinned me to the bed, my two hands in one of his huge hands and a smirking Merle above me.

"Thought you could sneak up on ol' Merle didn't ya, sweetheart?" He seemed to be wide awake and tried to figure out what I could have done to be noisey.

I looked at him with a smile on my face. "How'd you know!?" I said. "I made sure to be super quiet. I was almost a mouse!"

He laughed out loud and poked me in the side. "Cause I know, see, and hear everything. Ain't that right Darlin'?" He directed to Daryl as he threw a fluffy pillow at his head. I giggled as Daryl groaned, rolled over and gave Merle his middle finger.

I saw the boys do that to each other and always thought it looked cool to do, but the time that I did I got in a lot of trouble so I knew not to. Speaking of trouble...

"Merle?" I asked quietly.

"What princess?" He asked, his tone matching mine.

I looked at him for a second and than looked to Daryl. He caught my eyes and knew what I was thinking.

"Not uh," he said. "You wanna get in trouble with him go ahead but I ain't part of it."

I gave him my best puppy dog eyes but he just rolled his eyes and said no again. Killjoy. Well he didn't say I couldn't do it, just said he wasn't gonna help.

"Let me up, I can't do it with you sittin' on me."

He let me up and I grabbed a cup on the floor that one of the boys was using last night. I went to the bathroom and filled it with the faucet. Slowly I crept up to where Daryl was. I looked at my other brother but he just raised his eyebrows at me. No help there. I knew Daryl wouldn't sense me by him from the alcohol he had. I raised the cup above his head and this is when two angels appeared on my shoulders.

One said, "Don't do it Nora, you know he's tired and he has done nothing but protect you lately." That is a good point, I guess.

"Do it!" Said the other one said. "It'll be funny and you are a Dixon, right? Dixon's ain't 'friad of nuttin'." There was a moment of hesitation... but only a very _brief _moment. I lifted the cup up and poured the cold contents on Daryl's head. The other angel was right, I _am _a Dixon, true and proud.

"Ughhh!" He yelled. "WHAT THE HELL?"

He sat up and looked around. Then his eyes locked on me and the cup in my hand.

_Busted_!

I ran to the other side of Merle's bed as Daryl let out a roar and leapt up from the couch.

"Merle help!" I shrieked.

"Nope!" He said, popping the 'P' dramatically. "You poked the bear, you deal with the consequences."

I made a mad dash to the door but before I could get even a foot in the hallway, an arm of steel wrapped around my waist and my belly connected with someones shoulder. _Darn!_

"Daryl," I tried. "I love you a lot, ya know?"

He grunted. "Yea, and I'm about to show you how much I love ya back, little girl."

TWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWD

Ten minutes later we were sitting at a table with everyone else and eating breakfast. T Dogg made eggs and toast which was really good. I didn't mind eating meat all the time because I was so used to it, but it was nice to have a meal with out some dead animal on my plate. I mean I guess it was a chicken, but it wasn't _really _a chicken. I soon became full though and pushed my plate away.

"Not uh," Daryl said. "You ain't even eaten much. You ain't done."

I looked at him with sass in my eyes and was about to tell him I was, but Merle cleared his throat and raised his eyebrows at me. I knew what that meant. I looked to both of my brothers, sighed and then dug in a again.

Dale looked at me and smiled. "I'm sure your brothers just want you to get a bunch of protein and food in you because we don't know if we'll always be able to eat like this."

Both of the boys nodded in response to his statemeant and Merle even smiled at him. He must either really like him or respect him, because he doesn't just do that to anyone. I always liked Dale too. He made me smile and was kind of the grandpa that I always wanted and never had. So I just smiled and ate a bit more til I felt as if I was gonna burst. That time the boys approved.

Shane and the doctor started to have a conversation but I wasn't to focused because soon me and Sophia were playing a hand game where you try to be real fast and hit the other person's hands. Shortly after that though Jenner said that he had something to show us. We followed him to a room and he said it was a video of some sort. All the members of the group gathered round a large screen and prepared to watch something, all except Merle. He sat down in a computer chair and called me over to him.

"You ain't gonna watch it?" Daryl asked.

"Nah." Merle replied. "I already seen it and I don't think sunshine here needs to watch it." He and Daryl had some sort of conversation in their heads because Daryl just nodded and walked away.

I squirmed from where I was sitting in Merle's lap. "Wait, I wanna see."

"No."

"Merle!" I whined. "Everyone else gets to watch it."

He looked at me with a firm glare etched into his face. His blue-grey eyes told me I needed to watch it. "Yea, well everyone else ain't nine. And I don't want you watching it so that's that." He softened after a moment though. "Ain't nothing that you need to see sweetheart... Matter of fact. Sophia!" He called. She looked over and he beckoned her to his side. She looked at her mom but her mom just nodded and nudged her in the direction of Merle. Once she was there, Merle asked her to sit down facing him and not the scree. "You don't need to see it either."

After that we were all silent. I heard some gasps from the group and something about restaring the brain but I didn't really know what they were talking about. Thanks Merle.

After a brief conversation with the doctor the group split up and went back to their rooms. Miss Carol came over then and hugged Sophia to her.

"Thank you, Merle, for looking out for Sophia and having her sit with you. I am really happy she didn't see that."

"Ain't no problem, ma'am." He drawled out. I noticed something then, his eyes twinkled when he said 'ma'am' and her eyes sparkled when she heard it. They both just kind of stared at each other for a while and I didn't know why. After Merle and Carol were done acting weird we all went back to the main hallway to go to our rooms. I saw Daryl in front of us and ran to catch up. I always wanted to be by him after he had yelled at me, and he yelled at me a lot this morning. As soon as I was in front of him I tried to jump on his chest but he just pushed me off and rolled his eyes. He had always been weird about his upper body and his back but never with me. I grabbed onto his hand and he looked at me.

"Good Lord, I forgot how clingy you are after gettin' in trouble." He laughed but it made me blush. After he said that though he picked me up and swung me on his hip. I laid my head on his shoulder and was thinking about how comfortable I was until the air shut off and some of the lights went out.

**Duh, duh duh! Okay so I didn't get to the bad part yet cause it's really late at night and I don't want that to be the last thing I think about before I crash haha. I hope you liked this chapter and I'll have the following chapter by tomorrow. Let me know what you think and thank you so much everyone!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Author's Note: Okay so this is what was supposed to be posted last night because I wanted it to all be in one chapter, but I was so tired. Sorry:( But here it is now, so enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Walking Dead, just my OC's.**

When the air went off it seemed that everyone just froze. But it was when the some of the lights went off though that people seemed to panic. This was our safe house and where we dreamed of being since this whole mess happened, something couldn't happen to it!

Daryl sat me down on my feet but still held onto my hand. It was a silent comfort and still perfect. It seemed that all the members of the group started to come out of their rooms and just crowd in the hallways. No one knew what to do, just hold your breath and hope it would go back to normal. But it didn't. We sat in the hallway for a few minutes and everyone was on edge. The scary thing was that no one said anything. It was just quiet, until Rick pushed his way past everyone and made his way back to the room we had been in with Jenner. While the others raced to catch up with him we hung back a lttle. We being me, Merle, Daryl, Sophia and Carol. I jumped a little when Sophia grabbed my hand but then we both just giggled a little. The hallway wasn't so crouded so we started to follow and I looked up at the adults. Both Merle and Daryls' faces were hard and it made me sick with worry. They usually had good sense when came to if a situation was good or bad. Merle's eyes kept flicking over to Carol's face and smiling sheepishly when she would smile back. I didn't understand the way they were acting. Were they friends now? I mean I don't know anyone who wouldn't like Carol. She was sweet and pretty and had the softest, kindest touches. He caught me looking at him and Merle gave me a trademark wink. Maybe he was just sick with something, because he was acting so different.

I looked back at Daryl who now had his thumb nail in his mouth. Gnawing slightly on it, as a nervous habbit of his. I patted his leg until I had his attention, once I got it I just smiled at him. He returned a small smile and ran his hand down my hair.

When the five of us entered the computer lab there was already an agrument going on. As soon as we crossed the threashold big doors closed behind us, making me jump.

"Aw hell no!" Merle yelled. "You did not just lock us in here."

The doctor looked at Merle and for a second I saw fear cross his faced but it quickly resolved into a cool composure again. "This is better for everyone." Was all he said.

"Whats's going on?" Carol cried.

Lori looked at her with campassionate eyes and said, "Doctor Jenner told us that the building is shutting itself down and when the time on the clock runs out it will decimate itself." There was a hint of venom in her voice but I think it was more because she was scared. I didn't know what decimate meant but it didn't sound good and that made me afraid. I went to grab Daryl again but all I saw was him raising an axe to the doctor's head.

"Yea but your head ain't!" He yelled. It kind of scared me to see him like this, but I knew it was just a show. He wouldn't actually hit the doctor, the doctor just didn't know that. Merle stopped him and Rick talked to Jenner some more and than the doors opened. Everyone ran out but Andrea, Dale and a girl I think her name was Jackie or something, I didn't really know her just had seen her around.

Merle grabbed both Sophia and Carols' hands and ran out the building. Daryl went to grab mine but I sidestepped him.

"Wait!" I yelled. "Why are they staying?" I didn't understand why they would want to stay if soemthing bad was going to happen to the building. Did they not know that?

"C'mon Nora." He said impaitently. I still stayed where I was.

"What if they don't know something bad is gonna happen?!"

He just picked me up instead of answering. I squirmed and kicked a little. I wanted to help those people. But I guess my squirming made Daryl mad because with out looking at me or slowing down he said, "Ya best stop now, 'fore ya wished ya had."

I heard the anger in his voice and didn't quite understand why. He and Merle had always taught me to look out for people and be kind and when I do that I get in trouble?

He roughly set me down next to Carol and Sophia as he went to go help Merle break the glass of a big window.

"Wait," Carol said. "I have something that might help."

She walked up to Rick and handed him something small and round. He took it and told everyone to get down. Merle and Daryl came back to us and sheided us. There was a loud bang and then suddenly I found myself in Daryl's arms. I looked over and saw that my other brother was carrying Sophia and leading Carol by the hand. We ran to the cars and I hid my head in Daryl's shoulder so I didn't have to look at the walkers that were limping behind us. Their faces empty and hollow but their eyes hungry and greedy.

Daryl threw me in the truck and pushed his body on top of mine. I was wondering why but I didn't have to wonder for long. I heard the loudest noise in my life and then there was heat engulfing me. For a second the heat was almost unbearable but it only lasted a second and then it was gone and the air was quiet again. Daryl looked out the window and I followed his gaze, safetly in Carol's car was her, Sophia and Merle. All looking a little shocked but other wise okay. Daryl and him nodded at each other before Daryl started the truck and pulled me into his chest for a hug. He pulled me back and looked me up and down.

"You don't ever hesitate again! Understand? The building was going to explode and you just stood there! I had to actually pick you up an' carry you because if you had stayed there you were going to be dead!" He didn't even stop to breath, just kept yelling. Tears came to my eyes. I didn't know that I was at such a big risk, I just wanted to help!

"I'm sorry! I didn't know." I cried.

"Ya?" He said. "Doesn't matter! You listen to me an' Merle and you do what we Goddamn tell you to do, got it!?"

"Yes." I said.

"You understand me little girl!?"

"YES!" I cried again.

Tears raining down my cheeks and onto the seats. Daryl looked into my eyes again and then pulled me into his arms again and pushed my head into his shoulder with his hand.

"I love you, sweetheart." He said.

I grabbed him tighter and said it back. After a few seconds he patted my back and let go.

He gave me a small smile and he shifted the truck into drive and we left the 'decimated' building. Emotionally exhausted, I leaned against Daryl and closed my eyes, hoping we would find a permenant safe place to stay at soon. We needed a home.

**I hope you like the first season. If you did let me know and if ya didn't let me know:) Thank you so much everyone and I hope to start season two soon!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Walking Dead. Just my own OC's.**

**Author's Note: Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry that I haven't updated in so long. I started my courses and there was so much going on but I am truly sorry! Okay so this is starting in season two and i'm going to put my own twist on it, so I hope everyone likes it! Enjoy!**

The heat was intense and sweat rolled down my back as we sat in the truck, driving for what seemed like hours. When I had woken up from my nap the past events caught up to me and I almost started to cry again, but I wanted to be strong. I had Daryl and Merle with me, plus I had Carol and Sophia so I hadn't lost anyone yet.

Yet. That word stuck in my head. How long would it be before I did loose someone? And who would it be? I had already thought I lost Merle and it hurt so bad, I couldn't imagine having to loose someone else. My chest tightened as images of finding Daryl or Merle as one of... them. Their skin pale and tore, eyes lifeless and cold. I scooted closer to Daryl on the bench seat as tears sprang to my eyes. Daryl just looked at me with a concerned look on his face.

"What's the matter, Nora?" He asked with his lips in a tight line.

He looked concerned but at the same time he looked frustrated so I started to scoot back to passenger side, but he grabbed my hand. All he had to do was connect his soft baby blue eyes to my green ones and I knew whatever he was mad at wasn't me.

"I'm just worried about you an' Merle turning into those things." I whimpered.

He sighed a little. "You ain't gonna sweetheart." He shifted gears then put his hand on my leg. His hands were rough and calloused but they always represented a safe place to me. "That ain't gonna happen to us, you know that. Jeez have a little faith, why don't cha?"

I giggled at the joke but then my smile faded as I thought of how he may not always be here to make me giggle and feel better. I looked out the dashboard with frown on my lips. Until Daryl nudged me.

"Hey Nors." He said. "You wanna drive?"

I turned to him so fast I almost got whiplash.

"Really!?" I asked.

He smiled. "Yep!"

I was about to climb into his lap but then a thought occured to me. "But what about us being on the road? What if I hit something?"

The only other times I had driven before were on back roads on camping or hunting trips. I didn't get to go hunting all the time but whenever we went to the woods one of the boys would let me sit on their lap and drive for part of the way. But that had never been on a freeway.

"Didn't know walkers could drive now too." He said, causing me to laugh. "But I ain't gonna let you hit anything. 'Sides we ain't got much more gas and then we'll probably have to leave the truck so this is the last time to drive it."

My face fell a little because I had had good times with the boys in this trusty ole' truck. But the frown fell as Daryl grabbed me around my waist and plopped me down on his lap.

I put my hands on the steering wheel and he had one hand covering mine and the other one on the shifter.

I tried to keep my hands steady but Daryl would use the hand that was holding the steering wheel to jerk it to the side, scaring the heck out of me! We were laughing and having a good time, but then the truck started to sputter and slow down some. Daryl pulled off to the side, since we were in the back of the cars it didn't matter, and put the car into park. I saw the other cars stop and Daryl and I got out of the truck together and headed to the back. He grabbed our bags, the shotguns, range bags, and of course his trusty crossbow. Merle pulled up besides us in Carol's jeep and got out. We got the jeep loaded with our stuff and then Merle helped Daryl get the bike from the bed of the truck. They argued over who was going to drive it but in the end Daryl won. He was going to ride the bike while Merle followed with me, Sophia and Carol in the jeep. I didn't really like the thought of Daryl not being with us, but I knew it wasn't worth voicing because there wasn't any other way. I mean goodness forbid we leave the bike. In the end I ended up in the jeep with Carol and Sophia.

Sophia and I played rock-paper-sicsors and eye spy while we were manuvering through the mass of abandoned cars. We stopped when the car stopped though. Merle got out but told us girls to stay put while he went and checked on what was going on. I watched him walk the twenty paces to the RV and when I knew he was there safetly, I turned my eyes to Carol.

"Do you think everything's okay?" I asked with a shakey voice.

She looked at me with soft and eyes and than placed a hand on my cheek. "I'm sure everything is just fine sweetie." She looked at me for a second than winked at Sophia before turning back around in her seat. I looked at Sophia and she just grabbed my hand.

I was so happy to have a friend to help me get through all of this.

Okay I am so sorry that took so long to get up I'm hoping to have the next chapter up by the end of this week if not tomorrow :) Thanks again for everyone who took the time to give this story a chance. If anyone has any suggestions or critism let me know!


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